Johannesburg: Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis on Friday voicing his support in fight against racism said 'All lives don't matter until black lives matter'.
The movement spread across the US and globe after death of African-American George Floyd by white police officer in Minneapolis.The ongoing England-West Indies Test series saw players from both sides took a knee in the opening match coming out in support of BLM.
"In the last couple of months I have realized that we must choose our battles. We are surrounded by many injustices in our country that require urgent attention and action to fix them," du Plessis wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
"So I've remained silent, with the intent to listen, but not respond. Slowing down my point of view, but quicker to hear the pain of someone else.I surrender my opinions and take the knee as an intercessor.
"I acknowledge that South Africa is still hugely divided by racism and it is my personal responsibility to do my best to emphasize, hear the stories, learn and then be part of the solution with my thoughts, words and actions."
Du Plessis acknowledged that his comment earlier this year, in which he had said the team did not see colour - when talking about Temba Bavuma being dropped from the Test team - was na've.
"I have gotten it wrong before. Good intentions were failed by a lack of perspective when I said on a platform that - I don't see colour," he said. "In my ignorance I silenced the struggles of others by placing my own view on it," he said.
"A race problem is a human race problem, if one part of the body hurts ,we all stop, we empathize, we get perspective, we learn and then we tend to the hurting part of the body."
So I am saying that all lives don't matter UNTIL black lives matter. I'm speaking up now, because if I wait to be perfect, I never will. I want to leave a legacy of empathy. "The work needs to continue for the change to come and whether we agree or disagree, conversation is the vehicle for change," said he. (UNI)